Discovering Gossip
by allconspirer
Summary: No 1. Prequel to Deceptive/Destructive Gossip. Naruto and Hinata are friends, a newcomer in town and quickly spreading gossip affects their friendship.


So this is a prequel to Destructive/Deceptive Gossip, I think it actually starts the story quite well but the three don't flow very well. So I plan on writing another between them.

Just to note, Sasuke is around but he's not so much a part of Naruto's life, the friendship is there but Naruto's got a healthier taste in friends.

* * *

Deception and secrecy are the foremost in a shinobi's life, many can never reveal their real names whilst others may never truly know it. The same goes for feelings, whilst standing in battle and on missions emotions must be faked and hidden. It is for these reasons that ninja's become very pessimistic, trust between them can crumble and only the most valued of friendships really survive. Usually the strongest most successful (and as a result the most dangerous) of shinobi have the fewest friends.

It is therefore surprising to people that Naruto Uzumaki the most powerful and dangerous shinobi in Konoha's ranks has many friends spread over the entirety of the known map.

Amongst those friends was one Hinata Hyuga.

There was nothing Hinata valued more than her friendship with Naruto.

She was the shyest of all his friends and, if only he knew it, his most loyal friend.

Hinata had always admired and believed in Naruto, she was the only member of this class that this was true of. Even when Naruto had appeared beaten or about to fail she had always instinctively known that somehow, in some way he would be able to make a comeback.

If asked about it Naruto would say that he had always liked Hinata, they had never spoken much at school but she had never been recognisably mean to him. If he counted properly he would be able to list that every single member of his class had insulted him at some point with the only exception being Hinata.

Still his ability to forget the meaner incidents of his childhood was one of the main reasons why he had so many friends. He had a quality that enabled him to forget any wrong and get along with everyone, it was sometimes hard for them to get along with him given his loud nature but he seemed to be able to make people like him through sheer force of will and constant pressure.

For most if his life it seemed like Naruto would never really dislike anyone.

Until he met Kazuhiko.

Recently returning after a long mission, ANBU captain Kazuhiko was the new dreamboat in town, he was tall and muscular, he had long dark hair that fell into his eyes, his dark tan was only enhanced by his eyes, they were a deep chocolate brown. The entire straight female population of the village had fallen in love (and so had some of the men), he was also (and this was the worst) brooding! It was like having another more grown up Sasuke around.

Normally it would have been easier for Naruto to ignore Kazuhiko's existence but he'd had one of his rare accidents that left him injured and in a cast. His arm had been fractured and for once the Kyubbi didn't seem to be in the mood to heal him. He was trapped in the village and pulled from all missions, Tsunade didn't even want to risk healing him herself in case it caused problems so he was stuck in a cast as well.

As a result of Naruto's constantly depressed mood he had been taken out to eat by the rest of the rookie nine. He had been pleased that his friends were so willing to entertain him and they never revealed how much trouble it had taken Hinata to convince so many people to come. The restaurant he and his friends were sitting in was full and it was times like this that Naruto felt most at ease... until a certain ANBU captain walked by.

"What the hell is it with girls and brooding men?" Naruto complained as Kazuhiko walked past them causing many heads to turn.

"Sorry what?" Ino asked shaking her head as she tried to remember her name.

"He looked our way" Sakura sighed not really hearing them "And he nodded at us"

Almost all the woman had watched the dark mysterious mans walk down the street. The guy walked anywhere and about a million eyes would follow him. Sasuke appeared to the only one not bothered by this change in attention, he was quite happy for some new guy to be the talk of the town.

"Naruto-kun was just complaining about Brooding m-men" Hinata supplied the information in her usual quiet way, she appeared to be the only female in the group... and in the entire street, that hadn't watched Kazuhiko's progress. She had looked up when she saw him but she didn't feel the need to watch him as he went.

"Brooding men are just so....." Ino ended with a sigh as she turned her head in the direction Kazuhiko had gone in hoping to see him again.

"Brooding men are such mysteries" Sakura sighed also turning her head in the direction in which Kazuhiko had left. "You just want to spend time with them and understand them. Especially him, he was made ANBU at twelve and left the village on a secret mission. He must have done so much, and he never says anything because he's soo brooding."

"Maybe I should try to be brooding then" Naruto muttered staring down at his bowl. "Might get me some more attention"

Everyone turned to look at Naruto in astonishment, in a few seconds laughter rang around the restaurant drowning out conversation at other tables. Naruto looked up feeling hurt.

"What's so funny?"

"Come on Naruto! You? Brooding?" Kiba was practically falling off his seat he was laughing so hard.

"I could brood!" More laughter followed this so Naruto decided to give up, turning to Hinata (who was merely smiling at the idea of a brooding Naruto) he asked "come on Hinata, you haven't said why you like brooding men!"

"That's because I don't like brooding men" Hinata admitted keeping her eyes down

"We all know that" Ino teased lightly

"We do?" Naruto asked looking around cluelessly, Hinata just kept her head down and the others just shook their heads amusedly "Why don't you like brooding men?"

Still very flushed Hinata paused before answering "Brooding men think only about themselves and their plans, I prefer people to be more... cheerful" she was flushing even redder as she spoke these words and Naruto made his usual assumption.

"Hey! You're kind of red Hinata, are you feeling sick?"

"No, I'm f-fine"

"Speaking of being sick..." Sakura interrupted "Hinata you've been at the hospital quite often recently, how come?"

"Oh... n-no reason" Hinata muttered spooning more food into her mouth. As Sakura opened her mouth to question her further Shino and Kiba exchanged speaking glances.

"Of course..." Kiba cut in before Sakura could say anything further "if you think about it, Hinata would never like tall dark and brooding guys, they're too like her father."

"Or Neji" Ino agreed laughing, very few people noticed the grateful look Hinata sent towards her team mate as the conversation moved onto another tack.

Oddly enough Naruto was one of these few, his curiosity had been peaked when the information that Hinata might not be well was brought to his attention. After Sasuke had returned and Naruto's attention was no longer focussed outside the village he had begun too notice more of what was going on around him. He had begun to notice more about his friends, Sasuke had become more sociable but still rarely said little more than two words per sentence, his newfound sociability had more to do with finding a wife that wouldn't annoy him than a change in personality. Sakura was slowly becoming more career minded, her main goals were to rise through the ranks and become known as the best of the best. Shikamaru had shown the occasional urge to work and had proven excellent with children, Ino came from a surprisingly close family she rarely seemed to be at outs with her parents, Choji was again from a close family and though he was suitably caring about everything he was also remarkably placid, very little bothered or annoyed him. Kiba was easy to read, what you saw was what you got and, like his dogs he was intensely loyal, Shino was quiet and intelligent but he could be astonishingly childish as well, it didn't take much to offend the bug user and it was usually wise to make sure that anything that might anger him be kept secret from him.

Even with all his honed observational skills Hinata was a mystery to him, part of him understood what Sakura said about trying to unravel the mystery, he found Hinata particularly intriguing. She was a quiet thing and very little about the Hyuga home life, the normal stoicism was easily seen by the outside world but she was more expressive. Others would make comments about Hinata that revealed they knew more than he did but they were never willing to share this information with him.

He gazed at Hinata for while trying to work out if she looked really ill or not, her red face had faded back to it's natural paleness but thanks to that he noticed that there were rings under her eyes like she hadn't been sleeping well.

Frowning he decided that he'd need to look into this, he'd have to find out about Hinata and hope that her impressive eyes didn't notice him.

--

The first day that Naruto decided to follow Hinata was quite by chance, he had been walking through town enjoying a rare day with absolutely nothing to do... (well nothing urgent) and had noticed Hinata walking along looking oddly happy. He had nothing against her looking happy but he was curious as to what had caused the unusual behaviour and deciding that he could easily walk along the same road as her without it being suspicious did so.

He followed at a discreet distance walking as casually as possible until he saw something that made him stop and openly stare.

The ever attractive Kazuhiko was standing at the end of the street and upon seeing him Hinata had run straight into his welcoming arms.

Naruto couldn't believe it, Hinata! The girl that hated brooding men. The sweet member of the group who never went crazy over guys. This didn't make sense! Naruto scratched his head dumbfounded.

Unaware of their spectator Hinata smiled up at the ANBU captain laughing as he leant to whisper something to her, she nodded, Kazuhiko smiled in return before unwinding his arms from Hinata's small form and taking her hand in his own began to lead her, the two began to silently walk together down the street.

He seriously followed them now, odd thoughts were filling his head, he was determined that Hinata may need protecting from this unknown man. He had bizarre visions of himself coming to her rescue, it was strangely nonsensical. Hinata could quite easily look after herself and if she chose to spend time with Kazuhiko then it was up to her.

Still, he'd follow them... just in case.

--

Sitting eating her lunch Hinata laughed as Kazuhiko described another brawl he had been involved in, he had such a funny way of describing his fights making it sound as though every fight he had ever been in had been won by pure fluke. It was the third time since his return that they had met up, after their official reunion (where she had rather embarrassingly run into his arms) and they were able get along just as effortlessly with each other as they had always been. It was odd how easily the two of them returned to their usual way.

They were keeping their friendship under wraps until it was easier for Kazuhiko to walk the streets. She was afraid that her female friends would demand to be introduced to him or that her male friends would start to act over protectively getting totally the wrong idea about what the two of them were to each other.

Of course she wasn't to know that one male friend had already begun to be over protective regularly watching her and that two of her female friends were about to find out her secret...

"Oh. My. God."

Two women standing outside a small and private restaurant looked likely to suffer an apoplexy.

"I can't believe that Hinata is having lunch with Kazuhiko!" Ino squealed as she looked through the window at the young couple.

"I can't either" Sakura hissed angrily "All that sickly sweet talk about... 'I don't like brooding men, I like men to be cheerful' and all the while she's seeing him!!"

"Oh come on Sakura" Ino argued with a smile "It's not like he's being all brooding now, in fact" getting closer to the window Ino laughed "he's smiling! He looks all cheerful and everything! Oh what a smile!" Ino practically melted as Kazuhiko's lips curved into a smile revealing a set of perfect teeth.

"But she likes Naruto!!" Sakura wailed uncaring of the stares she got from passersby "we all know it!"

"All except Naruto, maybe she finally gave up on the idiot ever noticing her and decided to go out with a guy that actually notices that she's a beautiful woman and not just a fellow shinobi!"

"Well why him?" Sakura moaned looking at the dark haired Adonis Hinata sat talking to "Bloody Hinata, she was always the one person you could count on not to be a rival because she was crazy about Naruto and would never do anything about it. She wasn't even a rival if I went after Naruto because she'd never say anything and you could just walk all over her."

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed angrily "Hinata's sweet, ok she's easy to ask a favour of, but, you shouldn't talk about her like that."

"Come on Ino!" Sakura laughed off her friend's disapproval "there's no need to overreact, I'm just saying Hinata never mattered before, now... she and I are rivals. It's weird."

"Lets just go" Ino muttered pulling Sakura away, she had long outgrown the petty rivalries of their childhood but sometimes it seemed like Sakura had hit her emotional maturity at the academy and would be the same forever! It was about time that Sakura realised you couldn't just stake your claim on a guy and expect him to fall in with you, it hadn't worked with Sasuke so why did she think it would work with anyone else?

"It's an arranged thing" Sakura muttered as she was dragged away, "Kazuhiko is just the sort of guy the Hyuga's will approve of. It must be arranged. That's gotta be it. She still likes Naruto!"

As Ino and Sakura walked away they failed to notice a very stunned looking Naruto standing close to where they had been talking.

In a dazed state Naruto wandered over to the window where Ino and Sakura had stood.

Hinata liked him?

The idea was almost alien to Naruto.

There was a girl who liked **him,** it made no sense after all, what was there to like?

Of course he was too late now.

Staring through the window he could see that Ino was right, Kazuhiko had lost his surly look and sat talking without difficulty to the Hyuga female. The two of them appeared to be sharing a joke about something and Kazuhiko was making the shy girl blush. Naruto had never noticed before but Hinata seemed to blush very easily, he had always assumed that she got sick easily but, watching her now, he could see the difference between an embarrassed blush and a sickly flush. This was definitely an embarrassed blush.

He was just about to move away from the window when Hinata glanced his way. Her eyes widened at seeing Naruto but with a blushing smile she waved at him. Turning Kazuhiko's face immediately became sullen, it was the change in expression on Kazuhiko's face that made Naruto decide to enter the restaurant. He'd had enough people look at him with hatred in their eyes in his life and he wasn't going to take it from some arrogant ANBU.

Walking in he smiled casually at the two of them before heading to their table.

"Hey Hinata, I wasn't sure it was you at first"

"Hello Naruto kun, this is Kazuhiko kun"

"Hello. How do you two know each other?" Naruto asked staring at the ANBU captain

"We've known each other for years." Hinata nodded smiling at Kazuhiko encouraging "This is my friend Naruto"

Kazuhiko merely nodded at the blond man before turning and staring moodily out the window, this immediately enraged Naruto. This guy was out on a date with Hinata and was acting like a total bastard to her friends, Hinata didn't need a guy like this in her life!

"Hey!" Naruto yelled getting Kazuhiko's and everybody else's attention "Have you got a problem with me?"

"Naruto-kun, please just sit down" Hinata pleaded, her gentle eyes pleaded very successfully and slowly Naruto nodded and sunk into a seat facing the brooding ANBU captain. "Kazuhiko-kun c-could you give us a minute?" Hinata asked turning her pleading face on the dark haired man, he gave her a reproaching look before giving in and moving away from the table. "Naruto what's wrong? Why did you get so mad?"

"I'm not mad... he just pisses me off that's all. I thought you didn't like brooding guys anyway."

"What's that got to do wi-with it?" Hinata asked surprised.

"Nothing... so how do you even know him? He never speaks to anyone"

"We've known each other for years, we met at my speech therapists office"

"Speech therapist?"

"We've known each other for years, I started going when I was three, he was a couple of years older than me and seemed more worldly, he and I got along, I really looked up to him. Both Kazuhiko and I have stutters, we used to see a therapist twice a week t-to help us lose them. True mine is more due to stress and has seen vast improvement but his is constant and has had very little improvement, having a stutter is very embarrassing for a shinobi, he spent all his life being told that talking like that was going to make him a source of ridicule so he keeps silent. Do you underst-stand?"

Ah damn, now he felt bad, he had just assumed that the guy was an antisocial asshole "I always thought your stutter wasn't that bad" Naruto muttered staring down at his hands.

Hinata didn't hear what he had said but she had a point to make and she was determined to make it. "Actually Kazuhiko thinks very highly of you, like me he admires your strength and perseverance."

"You admire my strength and perseverance?"

"Would you just li-listen to me?" Hinata asked feeling exasperated "Kazuhiko is just afraid of being mocked or considered less of a man and so he doesn't talk. He and I are very similar really, our families made us feel ridiculous for our problems."

"Why didn't you tell us you knew him?"

"It was a shock to see him again, he's been gone for years. When I heard Sakura and Ino go on about him I decided that I couldn't s-say anything because they'd beg me for an introduction and that would mean he might have to reveal why he was always silent."

"Wait till Sakura finds out that her brooding hero only stays silent cos he has a stutter"

"N-No!" Hinata shook her head angrily "You mustn't, it'll embarrass him"

"I don't want to embarrass him, just Sakura"

"But embarrassing her w-will embarrass him" Hinata pleaded gently, she reached forward and rested her hand on his arm as she tried to make him understand "Please Naruto-kun?"

"Fine" Naruto took a little solace in Hinata's pleased smile as he agreed to behave himself and keep her friend's secret.

"If I call him back over do you promise to be nice about it?"

"Sure" Naruto was a little displeased when Hinata's hand left his arm but he covered it with his usual goofy smile.

"It's a really bad stutter, you have to be sensitive about it."

"I can be sensitive."

At Hinata's bidding Kazuhiko returned to the table, he sat opposite Naruto looking very nervous for a person usually known for his stoic attitude.

"Naruto, this is Kazuhiko, Kazuhiko, Naruto" The introductions had been made but making them again seemed to signify the change in atmosphere and both men appeared to understand as they greeted each other with a more friendly attitude.

"It's nice to meet you Kazuhiko... sorry about yellin' earlier"

"Th-thats alright N-Naruto-to sam-ma" Kazuhiko nodded politely, he had a predictably manly deep voice but Hinata was right, the stutter was awful. "I ap-pologise i-i-if I caused-d an-n-ny offence."

"Nah, I was just over reacting" Naruto grinned in a friendly way hoping that he could make up for any earlier upset. "And it's just Naruto, there's no sama at the end!"

"I und-ders-stand y-your ang-ger"

"Well I understand your secrecy." Naruto shrugged.

"In-ntroducing myself-lf is the har-hardest, m-my p-parents c-couldn't hav-ve picked a wo-worse n-name"

"Yah, I guess a name like Sai or Gai would have been easier." Naruto nodded understanding that he meant.

"W-well they c-couldn't-t have kn-known " Kazuhiko laughed, with Naruto easily acknowledging the issue and accepting him as the stuttering mess that he saw himself to be he was immediately at ease.

"So! What were you guys talking about?"

"Movies" Hinata informed him with a smile "Kazuhiko doesn't understand why I like romance but hate romantic films."

"You hate romantic films?" Naruto asked surprised "I always guessed you'd be a girly romcom type of person"

"Sh-she isn't" Kazuhiko laughed at Hinata's expression "Sh-she says they-ey don't-t have enough c-common se-e-ense."

"Common sense?" Naruto gave Hinata an inquisitive look.

"They're all so silly, boy meets girl, something unnecessary occurs to p-put them at odds but somehow it all works out in the end. If a girls sees their boyfriend hug someone or kiss them lightly on the cheek, or even l-lips then they always assume that their being cheated on and run off crying, if they just walked up to them and talked to them they'd discover everything's fine and not go through all the drama. And the endings are so impractical!"

"Impractical?"

"Crashing a wedding to declare your love for someone, waiting until th-the last minute to admit you like someone in front of crowds of people usually destroying another relationship in the process. If you can't say it when it's just the two of you or before it's too late then you shouldn't say it at all!"

"I th-thought c-crashing the wed-d-ding would b-be imp-pressive to most-t girls"

"Well not this one, girls spend weeks, months, sometimes years planning their wedding, they've us-sually dreamt of it since they were a kid and to have someone ruin it like that would be really annoying!"

The rest of the meal passed in easy conversation, Kazuhiko often took longer to say things and though Naruto was often desperate to finish an obvious sentence or joke he noticed that Hinata never did and followed her example. Hinata was impressed by Naruto's sensitivity, she had always known that he was goodhearted but in the past he'd had a reputation for allowing his mouth to engage before his brain had.

As they said goodbye Kazuhiko and Naruto gave each other long measuring stares, it was obvious to each man that the other liked Hinata in a way that went beyond mere friendship and it was also obvious to each man that Hinata treated both of them in a special way. Naruto could see that Hinata treated Kazuhiko with a quiet kindness and respect, she gave him sweet smiles and treated him with a friendly familiarity and sense of humour that she didn't use around her other friends. Kazuhiko on the other hand was aware of a new shyness in his old friend, Hinata's gestures were more flustered and she was blushing more readily than usual, her eyes also held a different sparkle.

As Hinata walked with Kazuhiko, he was usually stern and silent as they walked together but today as they neared the Hyuga complex he seemed more preoccupied than usual. As they walked along the road to her gate he stopped and turned to her.

"Naruto... H-he is th-the on-ne y-you s-said cheered-d for y-you at-t th-the chun-nin exam-ms?"

"Yes, he really encouraged me... why?"

"N-no reas-son." Kazuhiko turned and swiftly walked away

"Wait..." Hinata ran and grabbed his arm "What's wrong... you don't dislike him d-do you?" her eyes were filled with worry at the idea that her two close friends wouldn't get along.

"He's al-alright" Kazuhiko admitted soothingly "Y-you can-n inv-vite him n-next tim-me we g-go out-t."

"Really?" he nodded happy that this small acquiescence on his part brought so much joy to his friend. "Thank you!" not caring who might be looking Hinata hugged him quickly her eyes shining with happiness, before turning and running to her front gate. Once there she turned and waved again before heading inside.

Shaking his head Kazuhiko began to make his way home, he had always cared about Hinata but he had known that while he was away she might seriously fix her attentions on someone else but he had always hoped... sighing he tried to work out which would be the clearest route home if he wanted to avoid his fanclub.

--

Oddly enough Naruto became a regular to Hinata's lunch dates with Kazuhiko, the three of them would meet regularly. The only problem with this was the gossip it produced... no one was entirely sure where it came from but the rumour had started that Hinata's family were arranging a marriage between herself and Kazuhiko and that they were only allowed to see each other with a third 'friend' in attendance.

Luckily enough both men had taken it in good humour and jokes had been exchanged with Naruto telling Kazuhiko that he was their chaperone and he was not allowed to try any funny business, Kazuhiko returned accusing Naruto of getting in the way of his dates with Hinata.

The banter was kept light and friendly but underneath it all the gossip worried all of them.

For her part Hinata was terrified of being the centre of attention. There was nothing she hated more than knowing that everyone was talking about her or her life. She had enough problems without having that to deal with as well.

Naruto didn't like the way everyone just assumed it was Hinata and Kazuhiko that were together. Was there something in their body language as they talked that suggested that they were closer than Naruto and Hinata were?

Secretly pleased with the implication Kazuhiko didn't like how much it upset Hinata. Was it really so bad that people suspected them of being together? Would she prefer it if Naruto was the one everyone thought she was engaged to?

--

The three of them got along well a fact that Hinata was especially grateful for. Both Naruto and Kazuhiko held a special place in Hinata's heart and she had wanted them to become good friends. Kazuhiko was the elder brother she had always wanted, he was what Neji would have been had their early relationship been more friendly. Naruto was of course the love of her life, she had never confessed this to either of them but she got the feeling they were both aware of a certain amount of value to the friendships. This feeling was proved correct by the question Naruto sprung on her one day.

She and Naruto were walking away from a lunch, it was an oddly silent walk as Naruto seemed to be in deep contemplation. The two of them usually went as far as the training grounds together and then parted ways as Naruto went to train but this time as they neared the training grounds Hinata halted their progress and stared directly at her friend.

"Naruto. Is everything Ok?"

"Of course it is... why wouldn't it be?" Naruto grinned at her but the curved lips did nothing to convince the girl, his eyes still looked unhappy.

"You're awfully quiet"

"Kazuhiko is quiet when he's walking with you" he responded running a hand through his hair

"That's because he doesn't want to reveal his stutter, you've g-got nothing to hide."

"Neither does he, it's just a stutter"

"That's not fair Naruto, he's..."

"I know, I know" Naruto knew that she was about to start arguing about how people would treat him differently and how his family made him feel when he was growing up "You don't have to say it. He's lucky he has you in his life."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... you never judge anyone, you treat everyone the same... you're just... nice." Naruto had tried to think of a better word to describe Hinata but it was hard, she was just so... nice. Still she seemed to appreciate the compliment.

"Thank you Naruto."

"I mean it... and I hope I'm not getting in the way of your time together." He scratched at his head as though confused.

"Of course not!" Hinata shook her head "Why w-would you think that?"

"Well I can see that the two of you are... close."

"We've been friends for years" Hinata told him misunderstanding what he was getting at.

"No... I mean that you two are...close" he couldn't seem to bring himself to say what the real issue was. It was his flustered speech that clarified what he meant for Hinata.

"Oh! No!" she shook her head flushing brightly "No... we're just friends and... I really would want you... or anyone else... to think we were more than that."

"You're just friends?"

"Just friends" she agreed seriously.

"Good." He muttered scratching his head.

"Good?" Hinata asked tentatively "Why is it good?"

"Well..." Naruto paused, he wasn't entirely sure why it was good "Just.... I meant good to know, you know?" running his hand through his hair he gave her a nervous smile

"Sure..." Hinata paused and then asked "are you alright?"

"Huh?" Naruto gave her an odd look

"Well... you keep scratching your head or fiddling with your hair. Are you ok?"

"Fine... it's nothing" Naruto responded looking embarrassed

"If it was nothing it wouldn't be bothering you... what's wrong?"

"It's the cast" he blushingly told her looking down at the hard cast on his arm "I can't get it wet so when I shower it's really hard to get all the shampoo out of my hair, it's kinda itchy."

"Is that all?" Hinata asked smiling "The way you were acting I thought you had nits or something! My sister had the same problem when her arm was broken, I could help you if you like."

"How?" Naruto gave her a suspicious look

"Come on" bravely taking Naruto by the arm Hinata led him though the streets and towards his apartment. Acting with more confidence than she could ever remember having before, she marched him into his own home and ordered him to grab a mug and one of his chairs to take into the bathroom. Once there she placed the chair by the sink and taking the cup from him told Naruto to sit down.

"You don't have to do this" Naruto argued feeling partly embarrassed at needing her help and greatly confused by her bossiness.

"Naruto-kun you have to be ready to let your friends help you, now close your eyes" Hinata told him forcing him to sit down in the chair and turning on the hot water tap. Leaning his head back she filled the mug with warm water and poured it carefully over his head, she continued to do this for a couple more times before picking up his shampoo bottle and pouring a small amount onto her hand.

Naruto had never had his hair professionally cut before, he had either done it himself (with disastrous results) or allowed one of his sensei's to manage it (with equally disastrous results when Jiraiya did it). He was surprised to find that the sensation of having someone tenderly running their fingers through his hair and carefully massaging his scalp was wonderfully relaxing. A happy sigh escaped his lips and his shoulders loosened as he felt Hinata pour some more water over his hair.

Re-lathering his hair Hinata giggled at Naruto's blissful expression, she had been nervous when she had started to do this and blushing fiercely but she became more relaxed as time went on pretending that this was no different to washing Hanabi's hair.

"Is the water ok?" she asked as she poured another cupful over his head

"Perfect" Naruto opened his eyes and grinned up at her "Thanks for this Hinata-chan"

"Close your eyes again..." she admonished, still grinning Naruto obeyed "... and you're welcome. Anything for a friend."

With Naruto's eyes closed neither friend saw the sadness that flashed in the others at Hinata's last statement.

--

Of course things can't stay the same forever and soon Kazuhiko was given his orders, he needed to leave for another mission. At first he said nothing, he continued as usual meeting with Naruto and Hinata but there was more tension now. Hinata barely seemed to notice it but Naruto did.

It was on a cheerful day when Naruto was sitting eating his lunch at Ichiraku with Kiba, Shikimaru and Choji that the tense feelings between himself and Kazuhiko came to a head. Both men had behaved perfectly around Hinata, neither of them wanted to cause her any discomfort but both of them had known that they would need to sort out the problem eventually.

So in a crowded Ichiraku ramen restaurant Kazuhiko marched up to Naruto "I hav-ve someth-thing to say" Kazuhiko stated staring hard at Naruto.

"OK" Naruto nodded and then looked around at the crowd in the restaurant, many of them were trying to listen in without being too obvious "Wanna go somewhere else?"

"P-please... n-not because I am-m emb-barassed but becau-cause this is p-private."

"Of course" Naruto nodded and stood up "I'll see you later guys"

"Ok" Kiba nodded his gaze fixed on Kazuhiko, Choji's eyes were flicking from Naruto to Kazuhiko in surprise whilst Shikamaru wasn't really paying attention to anything but his food. Naruto left the table and walked out with Kazuhiko, the two of them walked around to the training grounds. The grounds were predominantly empty as most people broke for lunch and the two men would be able to talk privately there.

"So..." Naruto smiled as they finally came to a stop "Want to tell me what this is all about?"

"I'm l-leaving"

"Oh!" Naruto was surprised, he hadn't expected that "How come?"

"An-nother m-mission, I will b-be aw-way a long t-time. A year mayb-be"

"When d'you go?"

"On-ne hour-r"

"Wow that is soon. Right... well Hinata and I will miss hanging around with you"

"It's Hin-nata I wan-want to talk ab-about."

"Right" suddenly Naruto was serious, if Kazuhiko was about to declare his (obvious) love for Hinata right before he left it raised real issues. If the two of them began any semblance of a romance then Hinata was the sort of person to wait for a guy to return even if she did have to wait for a year or even longer.

"I love her"

It was the first sentence Kazuhiko had ever said in Naruto's presence without stuttering.

The two men stared at each other, it was a stare that any man could recognise. A warning, two men ready to fight and yet not ready to.

"I know you do" Naruto responded with certainty

"You love her" Another non-stuttering sentence

"I... I think so"

"No!" Kazuhiko held up a hand "Ei-either y-you kn-know or y-you d-don't." His eyes flashed with anger as he stared at his rival. Naruto was the only man that Kazuhiko would ever consider to be a rival, he knew how Hinata had felt about Naruto and he had always known that would never change. If he had thought that Hinata's feelings weren't returned he might have made a move on her but after spending time with Hinata and Naruto together he knew that the two of them were very attached to each other. It was not unlikely that Hinata's love was reciprocated.

"Well I don't know... I'm not very... I'm not very good at knowing about love. I do care for her, more than I've ever cared for anyone but I need time."

"You have-ve a y-year" Kazuhiko told him severely "In a y-year I w-will ret-turn if by th-then you are still n-not sure or have decided n-not to seriousl-ly p-pursue her I w-will t-take her from-om you."

"A year" Naruto nodded "alright... you look after yourself, we may be rivals but... well, I'm good at being friends with my rivals."

"Goodb-bye Naruto."

"Goodbye Kazuhiko"

They shook hands but it wasn't a farewell gesture, it was an agreement.

Naruto had one year, Kazuhiko would wait one year.

--

The next day Naruto decided to go looking for Hinata, he knew she would be upset by his departure and he was the only one who would really know what was bugging her. He found her easily, she was sitting in the restaurant he had first seen her in with Kazuhiko and staring at the wall. She looked very unhappy, more unhappy than Naruto had thought she would. Opening the door he went in and walked over to her table.

"Can I join you?" she didn't say anything merely nodding her response, in her hands she held a piece of paper covered in writing "What's wrong?"

"Kazuhiko left" Hinata explained to Naruto as he sat opposite her

"I know, he said goodbye"

"He said goodbye to you?"

"Yeah, he found me at Ichiraku... didn't he tell you?"

"He didn't talk to me, he just left me this."

"A letter?"

"Yep."

"Oh."

Giving an angry sigh Hinata took a sip from her glass of water "I can't believe he didn't try harder to find me. I really wanted to see him off, and he can't have only just got the assignment. Tsunade doesn't just send people away for a year, she gives them time to prepare and say goodbye, he must have known for weeks."

"Maybe he was worried it'd get all emotional." Naruto guessed that it was the emotional thing, it would be harder for him than for her.

"Well the letter just made me mad. How's that for emotional?"

"What does it say?" Naruto asked trying to look at the writing without appearing too nosy.

"That he'd been given a mission, he was going away, that he'd miss me and he'd be back in a year. He also said to look after myself and... there was this odd bit." Hinata stared down at the letter frowning as her eyes scanned for the piece that had troubled her.

"Oh really...?" Naruto asked feeling panicked, he was supposed to have a year, Kazuhiko couldn't have backed out of the agreement, he couldn't lose her now. "What was so odd about it?"

"He told me that all he wanted was for me to be happy."

"Oh...!" filled with relief Naruto grinned across the table, he hadn't lost her, he still had a year to work it all out "Well! That was a nice sentiment."

"I guess" Hinata sighed again. It was obvious that Hinata was still annoyed by the fact that her friend had just left without saying a proper goodbye.

"How about we have lunch together?" Naruto asked uncertainly "It might cheer you up."

Nodding Hinata handed him a menu and picked one up for herself "You do always manage to cheer me up Naruto."

Happy with the compliment Naruto watched her as she lifted her water daintily to her lips and took a sip, everything about her was so ladylike, he wondered if, without Kazuhiko, she would find being alone on his company too brash to cope with. "We don't have to stop doing this do we?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata began to look at the menu's.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked putting her glass back down. "We only just started?"

"No... I mean, even though Kazuhiko is gone we can still have lunch together... of course that's if... if you want to?"

It was exactly what she wanted to do, Hinata was surprised but hid it well, "I'd like that"

"Cool" Naruto smiled happily, Hinata sat returning the smile.

An intrusive voice interrupted the quiet moment with the question "Are you ready to order?"

"We'll both have the ramen special." Hinata answered easily before turning to face Naruto "I'm guessing you're ok with that?" the smile on her face challenged him to argue.

"Well if you really want the ramen I'm not gonna argue with you." Naruto grinned back at her. With those few words Hinata had confirmed something, with those words Hinata confirmed that as far as Naruto was concerned, she was perfection, and he loved her. There was just one problem now... how to tell her.

* * *

Man writing Kazuhiko with that stutter was hard, I think if I hadn't already thought this story through I'd have given up on it merely because of the stutter. They're not together yet but I didn't want to just put them together really quickly, my next story has more of Hinata's team-mates in it and I think it may turn out kind of funny, I think I know what's going to happen.

Still this is the longest one of these yet.

Please R&R


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